Smoldering Ruin
by Teniromo
Summary: After receiving a desperate call from a State-Alchemist and friend, Colonel Roy Mustang travels to Central for a meeting with him only to discover a terrible fate has befallen the General and his family. There is only one survivor in the ruins of this tragedy and Mustang feels he owes it to his old friend to watch over his adult daughter and to find the family's murderer.
1. Chapter 1

So this is my first ever fanfiction. I've been reading them for awhile and have always wanted to try my hand at it. Fullmetal Alchemist was the first anime I ever saw, so I figured my first fanfiction should be about it. This is a Colonel Mustang story. He's one of my favorite characters in the anime universe and I wanted to write a story I haven't really read in fanfiction.

The basic plot (because I don't know how far I want to go with this) is while stationed in East City, Mustang receives an out-of-the-blue call from a fellow State-Alchemist and friend who transferred to Central almost a year ago. Mustang agrees to head to Central after this friend begs him to meet with him about something important. However, Mustang finds more than he bargains for when this friend turns up dead along with the rest of his family in Central. Unexpectedly, the daughter of this Alchemist who was believed to be in South City is discovered by Mustang in Central. After the funeral, Mustang takes it upon himself to watch over his friend's adult daughter and find the killer. Also, what did the State-Alchemist have to tell Mustang? Why did he sound desperate? And did it end up getting his family murdered?

Anyway, call me Teniromo (pronounced Ten-nee-row-mow) or just Teni. I'm looking for positive feedback so I can better my writing so I don't mind anyone picking this thing apart. I know I don't have indents for new paragraphs. Every time I try to put them in and save it erases them. Anyone know how to fix that?

Hope you enjoy!

I don't own anything Fullmetal except for my t-shirt, which I received as a birthday present. Lyla Novikov is mine, and the rest of the Novikov family.

* * *

The Colonel opened the door to his temporary office and took in the state of it. The room was smaller than his office in East city, but quant. It had a desk, chair, and a phone. The window looked out over the Central grounds. It was a fairly decent view from the West Wing. Nodding once in satisfaction at the accommodations, Mustang set his binders and stray papers on top of the plain desk. It was going to be a long day.

The phone on the desk shrilled to life and startled the Colonel. He recovered quickly with an irritated sigh and swiftly answered it. "This is Mustang."

"Good Morning, Colonel Mustang." A female's voice sounded over the line. "There is a Colonel Hughes on the line for you."

"Hughes? Colonel Maes Hughes?" Mustang was surprised _. How would he know I'm in Central?_

"Yes, Colonel. Should I take a message?"

"No, no." Mustang sighed as he took a seat in his chair. "Put him through."

There was a click as the line switched over. "Roooy!" Colonel Hughes greeted over the phone in a voice much to cheery for Mustang's mornings. "How are yah?"

"I'm very busy Hughes."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Central?"

Mustang sighed again. "It's just for a minor meeting. I'm booked for a train back to East City this afternoon. And how did you know I was here in the first place? Do you have some of your investigators tailing me or something?"

"Not this time, although I do have my sources." Hughes chuckled. "There's been some talk for the past few days that you were on your way to Central. You have quite a few admirers around here."

"Admirers or competitors?" Mustang cracked a smile.

"I'll let you figure that one out on your own." Hughes chuckled, then grew quiet. "Actually, it's a lucky break I caught you. I have a favor to ask."

"A favor?"

"Yeah," Maes confirmed. "You see, we've actually got a bit of a concern down here."

"What 'concern'?"

Hughes sighed. "No one's heard from Brigadier General Novikov since two days ago."

Mustang straightened up in his chair. "Novikov?"

"Yeah, you remember him, right? He transferred here from East City just last year. I heard you worked with him on a few cases. Anyway, he hasn't showed up for work since Sunday. My secretary has left several messages at his home, but there's been no answer. We checked at the hospital where his wife works and we found out she's missed the last two days of work as well.

"We sent a car out to the residence yesterday, but my man reported there was no answer after knocking on the door for several minutes. We just finished checking in at the school his son attends, and he's been a no-show yesterday and today too."

"What about his daughter?" Mustang finally spoke. "Novikov has a daughter who's older."

"According to our records, Lyla Novikov is currently in South City." Hughes sighed. "She's attending a private school there. We've tried to get in contact with her, but no luck there either. I was hoping you would be willing to take a car and drive by his place. I know you have your reasons for coming to Central, but I don't have the men to spare right now and I'd rather it be someone who knows Novikov. Someone I trust."

Mustang didn't say anything. They were both silent in their own thoughts. "I don't know." Hughes sighed. "Maybe they took a vacation. A spur of the moment kind of thing, you know?"

"That doesn't sound like Novikov. He's a hard worker. He's devoted to the work he does for the military." Mustang sighed. "And he certainly wouldn't blow me off after asking me to come all the way out to Central."

Hughes was quiet on the other line. "He asked you to come to Central?"

"He's the whole reason I'm here. I'm supposed to have a meeting with him in the next hour." Mustang pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the time, watching it tick away.

"Have you spoken to him in the last two days?"

"No. I spoke to him Friday to notify him the earliest I could be here was today."

"Did he want you here earlier?"

"He wanted me on a train to Central the day he called me. I informed him I had important work that couldn't wait, and coming Tuesday was the best I could do."

"What was your meeting about, Roy?" Hughes finally asked.

Mustang sighed. "He wouldn't say."

"Novikov made you come all the way out to Central for a meeting and he wouldn't say what it was about?"

Mustang though back to the conversation he had with Novikov…

 _"_ _This is Mustang."_

 _"_ _Roy?"_

 _Mustang paused. "Who is this?"_

 _"_ _It's Novikov."_

 _"_ _General Novikov?"_

 _"_ _It's been awhile, hasn't it?"_

 _"_ _Yes, sir. It's been almost a year since you transferred. How's Central treating you?"_

 _"_ _I need your help with something, Roy."_

 _"_ _Sir?"_

 _"_ _I need you to come to Central right away."_

 _"_ _To Central?"_

 _"_ _It's important. We can discuss it upon your arrival."_

 _"_ _Sir, I can't leave East City to go to Central right now. The Fuhrer is visiting to oversee assessments."_

 _"_ _Roy, I need you on a train tonight. It's imperative."_

 _"_ _General," Mustang tried to explain. "If you could explain why you need me to go to Central-"_

 _"_ _I can't!" Novikov raised his voice. Mustang closed his mouth. He heard Novikov sigh over the line. "Please, Roy. As a friend, I'm asking you to come to Central and help me. I wouldn't ask if there was any other way."_

 _Mustang relented. "The earliest I can be in Central is next Tuesday. I'm sorry, Novikov. That's the best I can do."_

 _Mustang heard Novikov sigh again. "I guess I'll have to live with that, then. Alright, Mustang. I'll see you Tuesday…"_

"Roy?" Hughes' voice broke through Mustang's thoughts. "You still there?"

"He said he wouldn't have asked if there was any other way." Mustang said aloud.

"Novikov said that?"

"Yeah."

There was silence again.

"I've got a bad feeling, Roy." Hughes admitted.

"I'll take a car and my team and head to his house."

"Thanks Roy. I owe you one."

"No, you don't. He's my friend too."

Mustang heard Hughes "hmph" in agreement. "Call me if you find anything."

"Will do." And Mustang hung up the phone. He immediately left the small office, his team looking up at him surprisingly.

"Colonel?" Hawkeye asked as she stood from her desk.

"All of you get your things and meet me by the car. We have to check up on something."

Without another question, the five team members stood and collected their coats as they followed their leader out the door.

* * *

Mustang knocked several times on the door and waited with Hawkeye standing behind him. "Come on, Novikov." Mustang said under his breath. When there was no answer to his knocks, the Colonel proceeded to pound his fist on the door. They went without answer as well.

"Colonel?" Hawkeye asked as Mustang turned and headed back down the steps to the cobblestone.

"Fan out." Mustang ordered his team. "Check in all the first floor windows. See if you see anything inside out of the ordinary." The team nodded and silently moved around the perimeter of the house. It wasn't long before one of them called him over.

Mustang moved towards Breda who was by the back door window. "There, sir." He pointed inside. Mustang looked to see shards of a broken object on the floor. "Might be a vase. It's smashed all to hell." Breda noted.

Mustang tried to get a better view of the broken object, but it was hard to see from the place they were. Mustang maneuvered again to try and see more and saw something unexpected. Mustang instantly reached into his pocket and withdrew his white glove. Observing his actions, Breda withdrew his pistol. "There's someone on the ground in there." Mustang took a step back and raised his hand. "Stand clear!" he snapped his fingers and blew the lock off the door. Breda kicked the door in and entered first with his weapon raised. The rest of the team silently converged on their position and entered to house. Mustang entered last.

"Clear." Havoc whispered in the room to the right. There were several other "clear" calls from other members of the team as they cleared the nearest rooms. Mustang didn't pay any attention to them as they did what they were trained to do. Instead, he made a beeline for the body on the ground.

Mustang knelt down next to the body and took a look at the face. The young man's eyes were open wide as he stared into nothingness. His blonde hair was ruffled slightly. One arm was caught underneath the rest of his body while the other stretched up ahead of him, the wrist being twisted in a crippling position. His legs were sprawled out haphazardly. Mustang looked up to see his team standing by looking down at the body.

"Clear the rest of the house. Check if there are any others." The team began to move through the rest of the house while Hawkeye stayed by the Colonel.

"Colonel?" she asked.

Mustang sighed. "It's Novikov's son." Hawkeye move around the body to Mustang's position so she could see his face. "He attended the banquet last year with his father. The whole family did. I think you met him."

"Yes. I remember." Hawkeye looked down with sympathy at the boy. "As I understand he was a gifted alchemist."

"He was due to take his exams in a few months for State-Alchemist." Mustang shook his head. "I saw his name on the list of cadets." Mustang rose to his feet. "Ronan Novikov. It looks like he's been dead for a few days."

"I don't see any wounds." Hawkeye noted. "Could it have been an illness?"

"Colonel!" there was a call from one of the rooms above. The Colonel and Hawkeye hurried up the stairs to the second landing to find Breda standing outside one of the rooms looking grim. His weapon was lowered, but he still had both hands gripping it. "There's another one in there." He nodded his head to the room. Mustang looked in the room to find a sitting room. There was a woman lying on her back motionless. Mustang stood over her.

Gale Novikov stared up at him with dull eyes. Her blonde hair was fanned out around her. Her hand rested on her stomach as the other rested at her side. The blue dress she wore seemed to glow in the sunlight that streamed in from the nearby window.

"Chief." Havoc said from the doorway. Mustang looked up to see another grim face. "We've got one more upstairs."

Mustang sighed. "Alright." And he left Gale to venture upstairs with Hawkeye and Havoc. They entered an office that looked empty, but Havoc lead them around the desk to the body. Mustang looked down and saw Brigadier General Kristoff Novikov sprawled out on the floor. Mustang knelt down beside him. "Damn it, Novikov." He spoke quietly. "What'd you drag me into here?"

"All the rooms have been cleared, chief." Havoc reported.

Mustang stood and turned to face his team. "Get an investigative team down here right away."

"Yes, sir." Fury nodded and he dashed out of the room.

Mustang turned to Breda. "Find the daughter. She's in South City, she could be in danger. Get a team to check her residence."

"Sir!" Breda saluted and left as well.

"I need to call Hughes and tell him what we found." Mustang told Hawkeye and Havoc. "We need to be very careful how we go about this. Whatever Novikov needed to see me about was important. So important, he couldn't say it over a military line. Whatever it was might have gotten his entire family killed because of it. We have very few people we can trust on this-"

Mustang broke as he heard a dull thump from the left. Hawkeye and Havoc instantly drew raised their weapons, which they had never holstered, and pointed towards the direction of the noise. There was another thump and Mustang looked to the closet. Silently, the three officers moved towards the closet. Havoc placed his hand on the doorknob and waited for Mustang's approval. Mustang nodded once, raising his hand in readiness.

Havoc stood clear of the door as he yanked it open. Mustang took one look inside, expecting to see a murderer, but instead lowered his hand immediately without producing a spark. Mustang moved to the closet and knelt down in front of the girl sitting on the floor. She had raised one hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight streaming into the small hovel. She lowered it as Mustang blocked the light with his body.

"Get a medical team up here!" Mustang ordered. Havoc immediately ran out of the room. Mustang reached out to touch her arm. However, the girl cried out in a hoarse voice and shrank back against the wall. Mustang retracted his hand slightly.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Mustang promised. "You're safe now."

The girl seemed to want to look everywhere but at Mustang.

"Miss Novikov, my name is Colonel Roy Mustang. Do you remember me? I worked with your father in East City." The girl still seemed to not notice him. She looked down at her bare feet instead. "Miss Novikov? Can you hear me?" The Colonel placed a hand on her arm.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled suddenly and she fought violently to get out of his grip. Startled by her sudden outburst, the Colonel grabbed her other arm as well and tried to restrain her.

"Miss Novikov!"

"Stop!" she yelled

"Lyla Novikov, stop this!" Mustang ordered, but that didn't work either. The girl thrashed in the small space. "Lyla, it's Mustang!" he finally yelled as he shook her slightly. "It's Mustang!" His yell made her freeze and she finally looked up at him with her large brown eyes. "Do you remember me?" he asked now that she had stopped fighting him.

She nodded shakily. "Colonel Roy Mustang." Mustang watched her fidget. She raised her hand to wipe her teary eyes and nervously brush a strand of hair behind her ear. The Colonel released her as she did so. "Are you here to see my father?" she asked in a steady voice. Taken aback, Mustang didn't have an answer for her. "I'm afraid he isn't here right now, but he should be back soon." She insisted.

"Miss Novikov?" Mustang asked. "Are you with me?"

"I can make you some tea while you wait for him." And she was suddenly trying to get up. Mustang placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her seated.

"I don't think that's the best thing right now, Miss Novikov. Just stay there and we'll get the medical team to take a look at you."

The girl smiled slightly at him, but her smile faded and her brow furrowed. "Why are you here again?" she asked.

"I came to see your father." Mustang played along. The girl was clearly confused. "But Miss Novikov, I need you to tell me if you're hurt. Are you injured at all?"

The girl's brows furrowed even more as she shook her head. "No." she insisted. "I feel…" and she trailed off. She blinked several times. "I feel funny."

"Funny how?" Mustang asked.

The daughter of the Brigadier General just shrugged and smiled. "Just…you know how sometimes you just feel…" and she broke off.

"Miss Novikov?" The Colonel looked into her pale face. The Novikov girl then leaned to the side and wretched onto the carpet. Mustang grabbed her arm to keep her from falling sideways as she wretched. "Where's that medical team?!" he yelled behind him.

"They're on their way, Colonel!" he heard Fury call from downstairs. The Novikov girl wretched again before sitting back up. She swiped at her mouth with the back of her clammy hand. She was obviously embarrassed as she fidgeted again. She tried to stand again, but the Colonel placed a hand on her shoulder to push her back down. It wasn't hard to do so; she was so weak.

"Please, Miss Novikov. You're not well." The Colonel told her.

"I'm sorry." She slurred.

"Don't worry about it. Just try and relax for a minute. Now, I need you to focus for me. Are you injured?" he tried again.

The Colonel watched her eyes slide up to his face and blink slowly. "Why are you here again?" she asked. She was having trouble staying upright and Mustang found himself supporting more and more of her weight.

"Miss Novikov, I need you to stay with me." He shook her slightly. "Hey."

"Colonel, the medical team's here." Fury notified him. The Colonel looked to see several medical soldiers entering the room with a stretcher and medical bags. The Colonel turned back to the Novikov girl to see her eyes closed and the rest of her slouching in unconsciousness.

"Help her." Mustang ordered the team as one of them knelt down beside him.

* * *

"This is Hughes." A sigh came from the other end of the phone.

"I take it you've heard, then." Mustang said quietly into the receiver.

"Yeah."

"Then I trust you took the necessary steps."

"I moved my investigative team in. The other team wasn't too happy about it and were reluctant to turn it over to my department, but I called in some favors and they came through. My team is the only team dealing with the case." There was a pause. "I heard you found the daughter there too."

"She was in a closet four feet from her father's body. From what I could tell, she'd been in there for a while. Probably since the day it happened."

"What was her state?"

"She was confused. Disoriented. In shock. The medics also suspected heat stroke. The place was burning hot and she was in a closet for three days."

Hughes sighed again. "I'm sorry, Roy. I'm sorry it had to be you who found him."

"It just doesn't make any sense." Mustang confided. "What did he need to tell me that was so important? Why was his daughter in the house when she's supposed to be in South City?"

"Due to the nature of this investigation I'm going to be playing this one close to my chest, Roy. But I won't withhold anything from you. I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, do you mind staying in Central for a little while longer? It'll take a few days to sort through what the investigators and coroners find and then I'll need to ask you a few questions. It's just timeline related, nothing major, but it would be easier if I could talk to you face to face instead of on the phone from two hundred miles away."

"I guess I don't have a choice. I'll have to make up a formal report about our initial findings. Not to mention the funeral." Mustang sighed.

"It's a tragedy." Hughes voiced Mustang's thoughts. "Mrs. Novikov was a highly respected doctor at the hospital here in Central. That woman had a gift. Not to mention their son. Did you know Ronan was due to take his exams? He wanted to be a State Alchemist. He was already a name worth noting in the area, and not just because of his father. We were all looking forward to having him here."

"You and I were closer than anyone to the family." Mustang agreed. "Even then, I haven't seen Novikov or his family since he transferred to Central. I just heard hearsay every now and then."

"They were doing some pretty big things in Central, the whole lot of them. It's going to be much darker here without them."

Colonel sat down in his chair. "How am I going to tell his daughter that her family is dead?"

"You don't have to, Roy. You've already had to do enough. I'll take care of it."

"No." Mustang shook his head. "I want you to stay on this investigation. Don't worry about the formalities having to do with relocating and transitioning her. I'll take care of it. It's the least I can do since I'm going to be here for a few days."

"Alright." Hughes agreed, then sighed again. "Some favor I asked of you, huh? Boy, I sure can pick 'em."

"You couldn't have known. As far as the two of us were concerned it was just checking up on an old friend."

"I'll keep you posted. Let me know when she wakes up."

"I will. Let me know if you turn up anything new."

"Will do, Roy." Mustang hung up the phone and rubbed his face. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

So that's it so far. If it gave you just a few minutes of entertainment and relief from stresses then my goal is complete. Review and edit if you want. Again, don't know how far I want to go with it. Might be a one shot, might be a few chapters long, might be a beast of a thing to tackle. Help and suggestions are greatly appreciated if you have ideas or edits.

-Teni


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, it's Teni.

So here is the next chapter. It's a bit shorter than the first, but I plan on posting another chapter this weekend. I know where the next few chapters are going to head, but after those I'm going to be doing more major planning and what I like to call "sifting" my writings. (i.e. just going back and editing)I have a few ideas about how I want this story to play out. I have decided that this isn't going to be a romance between Mustang and Lyla Novikov. It's more of a parental relationship they have and Mustang keeping a promise.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. By the way, shout out to CharmyXcream14 for being the first to favorite and follow this story! It really means a lot that you showed you like it so far.

I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters. I do own Lyla Novikov and the rest of the Novikov family.

* * *

The Colonel strode down the hallway with his hands buried in his pockets. "How long has she been awake?" he asked his Lieutenant who followed closely behind while a file close to her chest.

"Not long." Hawkeye replied. "The doctor's in with her now."

"How did she seem?" he asked as he moved passed a nurse.

"It's hard to say," Hawkeye admitted. "She was quiet."

"Did she seem like she remembered anything?"

"I doubt it. She asked what happened."

Mustang stopped outside Novikov's door and turned to his subordinate. "What did you tell her?" he asked quickly.

Without blinking, Hawkeye replied, "I told her you would be in to talk with her, sir."

Mustang nodded once as they waited outside the room. They remained silent as nurses wheeling patients passed them by along with doctors and families looking for their loved ones.

After a few minutes of waiting the door to the room opened suddenly. Mustang turned to see the doctor exit the room and close the door behind him. The doctor's face looked grave. His troubled eyes looked down as the door clicked shut. Startled from his thoughts at the man in uniform standing before him, the doctor looked up and straightened. "Oh! I heard they would be sending someone from Central Command. I'm Doctor Simmons." He held out his hand and the Colonel took it.

"Colonel Roy Mustang." The Colonel introduced himself.

"I assume you'll want to speak with Miss Novikov?" Doctor Simmons gathered.

"That's is she's stable enough to be taking visitors." Mustang informed him. "How's her condition?"

"Well, she's alert." The Doctor looked at his chart in his hand. "Her temperature is at a normal interval and she has an IV so she's getting plenty of fluids. We're going to keep her another day or two for monitoring, but other than that she's doing alright physically." Doctor Simmons then looked up from his chart and the troubled look reappeared on his face. "I was made aware of what happened. I do recommend she see a grief counselor as soon possible and perhaps a psychologist depending on how much she remembers of the event." The doctor sighed. "It's a tragedy. Doctor Novikov worked in our trauma unit. I only met her a few times, but she was a lovely woman."

"Are we alright to see Miss Novikov?" Mustang pressed. He was here to do a job; not to allow emotion into an already emotional situation.

Doctor Simmons nodded. "Yes, of course." And he moved out of the way of the door. "Good luck." He nodded as he turned and walked away.

 _Good luck, huh?_ Mustang felt anger flair up in him as he placed his gloved hand on the doorknob. _There's nothing lucky about it, Doctor._ Quickly putting the foolish doctor out of his mind, Mustang steeled himself and opened the door to Lyla Novikov's room.

She was sitting up in the hospital bed looking out the window, but her head snapped to the Colonel when he entered the room. Her mouth gave a twitch of a smile out of courtesy, but her body was tense with anticipation. "Hello, Miss Novikov." Mustang nodded to her. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?" he asked as he closed the door after Hawkeye entered.

"Colonel Mustang." She greeted hesitantly. "You're in Central now?"

"For the time being," The Colonel took a seat the unoccupied chair next to her bed while Hawkeye sat in the chair next to him. "But I'll be heading back to East City eventually."

"How are things in East City?" the Novikov girl asked, feeling more at ease with the simple conversation.

"As monotonous as ever." Mustang joked, trying to make the interaction seem as easy as possible. "It's been fairly boring this past year. I've had so much time on my hands I'm actually caught up on my paperwork."

"My father will be surprised to hear that." Lyla smiled. "When we were in East City he would always come home complaining about waiting on paperwork from you."

"I do remember a few angry phone calls about that." Mustang nodded slowly as his smile faded. As the room grew quiet the uneasiness forced itself back into the air. Lyla, who had managed to relax during the casual conversation, tensed again and the smile on her face melted away into a look of worry.

"Why are you here, Colonel?" Lyla asked.

Mustang sat up in his chair and cleared his throat. "Miss Novikov, what's the last thing you can remember?"

Lyla nervously ran a shaky hand through her long brown hair as she thought. "I guess it would have to be heading downstairs this morning. Oh, well, that morning. Doctor Simmons says I've been here for almost two days."

"What are you doing in Central though?" Mustang asked. "Aren't you attending a private school in South City?"

"I'm just visiting for the weekend." She admitted. "I was supposed to catch a train Sunday morning."

Mustang nodded once. _That explains why she was there._

"What happened, Colonel?" Lyla asked. "You still haven't explained why you're here."

 _Just say it._ Mustang clenched his jaw. "Miss Novikov," he began. "I've come here on behalf of the military. Two days ago, military personnel went to your father's home after he failed to show up to the office for several days in a row." _Just say it._ "It was reported that signs of a disturbance could be seen inside the residence. Upon entering the home, the bodies of you father, mother, and brother were discovered." He waited for her reaction.

Her eyes were wide in shock, but she seemed fairly calm. She sighed, accepting what he just said, then slowly nodded in apparent understanding. "How serious is it?" she asked.

Mustang hesitated.

"Are they still unconscious?" the Novikov girl pressed. "What condition are they in? Can I see them?"

"Miss Novikov," The words were becoming harder and harder to say. "Their _bodies_ were discovered. All three of them were declared dead at the scene." Lyla Novikov's expression didn't change at all. She just stared at Mustang with her face devoid of any expression. "Miss Novikov, do you understand what I just said?" he asked her, leaning forward a bit.

"They…" the girl began, but went no further. She shook her head. "That's not true." She decided.

Mustang didn't say anything.

"That's not true." Lyla pressed him. He was lying. It wasn't true. "That's not true!" she yelled at him. She stared into his eyes for any indication that he was lying, that there was some uncertainty in the statement, but Mustang was expressionless as he stared at her. His eyes did not waver. Lyla turned her eyes on the Lieutenant who was looking at her with the same stare. It was one of absolution. "It can't be true." Lyla shook her head. "That's a lie. It has to be a lie. You can't…" but her thoughts failed her and she couldn't say anything. Sliding her eyes away from the pair of them, the Novikov girl instead moved her eyes back to the window.

The view overlooked the East Wing of Central Command. Her father's office was in the East Wing. She knew it faced West towards the courtyard. She wasn't sure which one, but she knew one of the windows on the third floor looked into his office. It was impossible to see into them with the naked eye, but she knew the window belonging to her father's office would show him hard at work at his desk.

"Miss Novikov?" She heard Mustang's baritone voice. "I know this is hard for you, but I'm here to tell you the military will be paying for all the expenses regarding their funerals. Arrangements are being made for temporary housing while the investigation continues. The cause of death is still undetermined until the coroner's report comes back, so your parents' house is still, as of now, a crime scene."

Lyla gave no indication she heard him as she still stared out the window with her head turned away from him. "Your father's will is on file in Central," he continued "and will be read after the funeral. Your mother had an alternate will on file with the hospital that will also be read. Your brother had yet to create one since he wasn't contracted to the military yet."

She still didn't look at him. She continued to look searchingly out the window. Mustang continued on.

"Due to the circumstances surrounding the event, it's best that you remain in Central under military protection unless the investigative team rules the deaths under natural circumstances or accidental. Your doctor is making arrangements for you to meet regularly with a grief counselor while you're here in Central in the meantime." Mustang added.

"What circumstances?" Lyla finally asked as she turned her lead to look at the Colonel. "What does that mean?"

Mustang hesitated. "According to the report, it's unclear how your family died. For now, the investigative team hasn't ruled anything out." He worded craftily.

"But what does that _mean?_ " she pressed. "Why am I being put under military protection?"

"There's a chance your family was murdered, Miss Novikov." Mustang finally spoke plainly. "If that proves to be the cause of death, then there would be reason to think your family was targeted for a specific reason. That would also mean you're a potential target as well. But that's only if the coroner finds anything pointing to that. This is just a precautionary measure for now."

Lyla gave a slight nod. The Colonel stood from his chair and Hawkeye followed. "You'll be discharged in a day or two if your doctor feels it's appropriate. Someone will be over to help you settle into temporary housing in Central Command after that, and bring you to the funeral." Mustang felt the words fall rigidly from his mouth. They weren't right. Novikov had been a friend. One of the few. He owed his daughter more than the formalities. "I'm truly sorry, Lyla." He gave her, and he moved towards the door.

"Colonel?" Lyla asked as he had his hand on the doorknob. He turned to look at the young girl. She was barely out of her teens, yet she looked aged. So much more aged than the last time he saw her in East City. "Do you think they were murdered?"

Mustang looked down at his feet. "I think your family was doing some pretty big things in Central." He used Hughes' words. And with that, he opened the door and left the room with Hawkeye following close behind.

"I want an update from the investigation by this afternoon." Mustang ordered his Lieutenant as they moved down the hallway.

"Sir." She nodded.

"And find out who's going to be put on the protection detail. I want them to be soldiers I know and trust." Mustang pressed the button for the elevator and the doors opened smoothly. They entered and waited for the doors to close.

"Sir?" Hawkeye spoke up as the elevator moved down the floors.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"When she asked what happened, you kept mentioning military personnel and the report."

"What about it?"

"Sir, why didn't you just tell her it was our team who discovered her family? Why didn't you tell her it was you who found her?"

"She doesn't need to know." Mustang explained easily. "If she knew it was us she would ask questions. She would want details. Don't you think it's better for her she doesn't know?"

"I think she would find some comfort in knowing that she wasn't alone there. Even if she doesn't remember it, sir."

Mustang sighed. "She already has enough to cope with. Adding on another layer to this will only make it harder for her to sort through it all and get back to reality. She has a long road ahead of her and her knowing won't make it any easier."

"Aren't you concerned she'll want to see the official report? She'll see your name on it."

"I made it as ambiguous as possible given what happened leading up to the event. Don't forget, Lieutenant, we aren't even supposed to be here. If anyone asks, we were just checking up on an old friend, remember? A surprise visit turned tragedy. That's all."

"Yes, sir." Hawkeye said as the doors to the elevator opened to the first floor of the hospital, but Mustang could detect the disagreement in her voice. It didn't matter if she agreed with him or not. He knew she would follow his orders.

* * *

So that's what I got so far. Excited to see where this goes. Please review for suggestions and what you want to see come out of this story. Thanks for reading.

-Teni


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, it's Teni (Don't really know if I need to say that. I mean, who else would it be? Posting these chapters?).

So here's the third chapter. Not 100% sure how I feel about this one. Feels kinda choppy to me. I wrote more than this, but I wanted to break it up into a few more chapters. Going to do some serious editing on this one fairly soon. There's so much more detail and description I can add to it. I sometimes have trouble thinking from the perspective of the reader and I forget the reader won't know what I know unless I tell them. I feel like there's a lot of that in this chapter. We'll see.

Just so you know, it's almost finals week for me at college, so I definitely won't be able to post as frequently as I've been posting these first few chapters. Oh, the life of an English major. You don't get tests during finals week. You get essays. Lots and lots of essays.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. I know these chapters need a lot of work. These are pretty much rough drafts of much bigger ideas I have. Through lots of editing, I hope they can reach a level I'm happy with.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy. If this story has been bringing you any form of entertainment or relief from every day life, then I've completed what I set out to do as a writer. Still gunna keep working though. Enjoy!

Don't own anything Fullmetal except for my Fullmetal Alchemist t-shirt. I do own the Novikov family.

* * *

Mustang was surprised at the amount of people present as he exited his car with Lieutenant Hawkeye. There was a sea of dark blue among the graves, but Mustang was used to that at a military funeral. However, there were also many civilians present all dressed in black. This was what had him questioning.

"Hey, Roy." Hughes greeted solemnly as he approached Mustang.

"What's all this?" he asked as he closed the car door and joined Hughes, Hawkeye following close behind.

Hughes looked back at the mass of people. "They're all here to pay their respects to the Novikov family. I told you, didn't I?" Hughes smiled wryly as they walked towards the crowd. "The Novikov's were doing big things in Central."

"I didn't expect so many civilians. Novikov didn't have any siblings and neither did his wife."

"What they lacked in relatives they more than made up for in friendships they forged in Central. Some of them are past patients of Doctor Novikov. There are a few others who were schoolmates of Ronan. He was pretty active in school."

"Has Lyla arrived yet?" The Colonel asked.

"She should be on her way." Hughes noted as they walked between the graves. They melted into the rest of the sea of blue. They were greeted by several officers. Most of them Mustang didn't know. He nodded at them in greeting and fell in line with the rest of the officers when they were informed the surviving family was on their way.

 _Surviving family._ Mustang thought as he stood at attention as a black car slowly pulled up. _She's the_ only _survivor. Her family is being buried._ When the door to the car opened all the officers saluted. Behind his salute, the Colonel took in Lyla Novacek's state.

She wore a plain black dress that came down to her knees. The sleeves ended just before her elbows. Her long brown hair was pulled into a neat bun secured by a pin. Her face was grayed, but she stood up straight with her head held high as she walked between the rows of graves and officers. There wasn't a hint of redness to her eyes and no evidence of tears. She took her place next to the three empty graves that would soon be filled by her family.

Three hearses drove up effectively cutting through the silence with the gravel crunching under their tires. Officers exited the vehicles and unloaded the caskets one by one. Mustang watched the caskets pass by him.

First, Brigadier General Kristoff Novikov. The Storming Alchemist. The Amestris flag blanketed the coffin with its ends flapping slightly in the light breeze. Then came Doctor Gale Novikov. Finally, Ronan Novikov. Each casket passed by Mustang and Hughes, and each one passed by Lyla Novikov, whose eyes did not waver from them. Each one was slowly lowered into their tombs side by side. The color guard lowered the flags as the riflemen presented arms and pointed their rifles up to the sky at an angle. The shots rang hollow inside Mustang. The whole time he kept his eyes on Lyla Novikov, who didn't even flinch at the shots. She just continued to stare at the graves with her hands clasped in front of her.

The last shot finally rang out and the riflemen simultaneously lowered their weapons at their officer's command. An officer approached Lyla with the folded flag of Amestris in his possession. He presented it to her, saying some quiet words that Mustang couldn't hear but knew by heart, and she numbly took it into her hands. A few words were said in honor of the Novikov family, but Mustang didn't hear them. He just looked forward and counted the graves on the horizon. When the words were finished, the civilians were the first to approach Lyla. A line formed of people wanting to give her their condolences. She thanked them for their words and didn't smile once. Soon military and civilians alike began to slowly make their way to their automobiles.

Mustang waited with Hawkeye some ways off until Lyla Novikov was by herself standing in front of her family with her protection detail a few feet behind her. "Find Hughes and tell him I want to meet with him tonight." He told Hawkeye, who nodded once and departed from him. Mustang took the opportunity to make his way to Lyla. He stood beside her staring at the graves. She said nothing as she held the folded flag to her chest.

"The reading of your parent's wills is in the next hour." Mustang told her.

"I know." She acknowledged, and she was quiet again.

"As I understand it, you were discharged from the hospital yesterday." Mustang noted. "How are you feeling?"

Lyla shrugged. "I don't really feel anything." Mustang's eyes moved to the girl beside him and watched her finger trace the top of her other hand. "Everything's just…numb." She admitted.

He understood what she meant. "It'll pass." He told her as he looked back at the graves before them. "And then you'll feel everything. You should be prepared."

Lyla sighed and moved her hands to her sides, the flag tucked under her left arm. "When do you leave for East City?" she changed the subject.

"At the end of the week."

Lyla gave a single nod. "So soon?" She tried to keep her voice steady and plain, but Mustang could detect a hint of worry in it.

"Hughes will be here to check up on you." He tried to reassure her, then thought of something. "You're aware he's the one handling the case, aren't you?"

"I heard them whispering about it outside my door this morning." She turned her head to the two officers standing several feet away in the middle of a quiet conversation. They had relaxed on their attentiveness since the Flame Alchemist was there.

"It won't be long until the official report comes through. After that, there's a possibility you won't need the protection detail and you can go back to South City to finish your schooling, if you so choose."

"There's a possibility." Lyla scoffed. "And if it comes back that my family was murdered, then what?"

Mustang turned his body to face her. "Then we'll find whoever did this and bring them to justice."

Lyla looked up at the Colonel for a moment. Her eyes almost made the Colonel flinch. They were sad, but also disbelieving. Her mouth had formed into a small frown as she considered the Colonel in front of her, and then she moved passed him towards the car with her two officers in tow.

Mustang turned back to the three graves in front of him. "I promise." Mustang spoke quietly. "I'll do everything in my power to find who did this."

* * *

So that's it. It's a pretty short one (shorter than the last one, I think.) but hope you enjoyed! Like I said, don't know how soon the next one is going to be uploaded, but it will be up eventually! Thank again for reading.

-Teni


	4. Chapter 4

So here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Thanks for reading!

Don't own anything fullmetal.

* * *

"Enter." Mustang spoke as there was a knock on his office door. A young officer Mustang had never seen before entered his office and saluted quickly.

"Colonel Roy Mustang, I've been sent by Major Reynolds from Records." Mustang put down his pen and waited for the young man to continue. "Your presence is requested immediately."

"What for?" Mustang asked as he stood to go.

"I'm not sure, sir." The officer paused. "I was only told to bring you immediately."

"Fine." Mustang decided not to give the youth a hard time. Today was not the day. He followed the officer out and down to the Department of Military Records. Mustang had only ventured down there a handful of times when he was stationed in Central several years ago. "In here, sir." The officer gestured to a door. Mustang gave him a single nod and opened the door leading into an office. Mustang paused in the doorway when seeing who was in the room. Lyla Novikov turned in her chair to look at Mustang. Hughes straightened from his position leaning against the wall. There was an officer, who Mustang assumed to be Major Reynolds, sitting at the desk with a piece of paper in his hands.

Mustang slowly stepped forward and closed the door behind him. "Ah, Colonel Mustang." The Major stood and shook the Colonel's hand. "I'm Major Evan Reynolds. Thank you for joining us."

"What's this about?" Mustang asked. His eyes went to Lyla, who had turned back to her normal position in her chair. He looked to Hughes for an answer.

"We're in Novikov's will, Roy." Hughes told him. Shocked at this information, Mustang looked at the Major, was taking his seat.

"Now that we're all present, we can begin." Reynolds placed a pair of glasses on the crook of his nose. "Please keep in consideration that these are the words of Novikov's last will and testament." Reynolds cleared his throat.

"'To whom this may concern,'" Reynolds read. "'I, Brigadier General Kristoff Novikov, the Storming Alchemist, hereby leave all my possessions, including land and deeds, to my remaining family. I request my remaining research funds be moved into my family account where half of it is to be utilized for the finishing of any schooling my children may not have completed. The remainder of the funds is to be split between my two children to use as they please.'" The Major looked up at Miss Novikov for a moment, then continued with reading the will.

"'I request my State issued pocket watch, the mark of an Alchemist, goes to my daughter so she may have it as she pursues her research of medicinal alchemy.'" Mustang saw Lyla bow her head slightly.

"There is an addendum here that was submitted." Reynolds looked up. He cleared his throat as he continued. "'To Maes Hughes, I humbly ask that you take on the role as guardian for my son, Ronan Novikov. May you be the guiding hand as he pursues his ambitions of becoming a State-Alchemist for the Investigative Department.'" Mustang looked to Hughes, who was shocked at what Reynolds just read.

"'To Roy Mustang,'" Reynolds continued. Mustang straightened. "'I ask that you take on the role of guardian for my daughter, Lyla Novikov. I also request that Colonel Mustang, should he accept, be transferred to Central active immediately so he can better perform this task. I have made all the necessary arrangements.'"

Mustang looked to Lyla, who was rigid in her seat. "That is the last will and testament of Brigadier General Kristoff Novikov." Reynolds informed them. "I can tell you the military will agree to his requests about the research funds being transferred. That's usual protocol in the case of the death of a State-Alchemist. However, the request for Mustang's transfer will have to be reviewed before approval."

"Novikov wrote that all the necessary arrangements were already made." Hughes questioned.

"That may be, but there is no way to know what these arrangements were. We have no records of any such arrangements." Reynolds admitted. "If there are any such records, they could be at the residence of General Novikov."

"When was the date of the submission for the addendum?" Hughes asked.

Reynolds looked back at the paper. "Uh, there is no date."

"You don't keep records of alterations to wills in the Department of Records." Hughes said skeptically.

"Any military personnel can come in at any time to alter a will or personal document. Whether to date the day of the alteration is completely up to the person handling the document."

"You don't have a sign in sheet?" Hughes asked. "A front desk worker who remembers him being in here recently? Anything?"

"All we have is this paper signed by General Novikov." Reynolds stated as he rose. "I will notify you on the status of the requests the General has made." Reynolds shuffled the papers. "Until then, there is not much more to be done."

Lyla was the first to stand. She turned and left the room without a word. Mustang followed after her as Hughes still argued with the Major. "Miss Novikov." Mustang called as she walked away. Mustang strode towards her at a brisk pace. "Miss Novikov." He tried again, but she didn't respond. "Lyla," he finally said.

The Novikov girl turned to face him. "That wasn't fair of my father to ask that of either of you." She blurted angrily. "He shouldn't have asked to have you transferred. His death had nothing to do with either of you."

Mustang didn't respond to her last statement. _Yes, it did._ Mustang thought back to the last conversation he had with the General.

 _"_ _The earliest I can be in Central is next Tuesday. I'm sorry, Novikov. That's the best I can do."_

 _"_ _I guess I'll have to live with that, then."_

 _But he couldn't live with that._ Mustang thought. _He was dead before I booked my ticket to Central._ Mustang sighed at the realization.

"You can't uproot yourself in East City just to come to Central to babysit me." Lyla shook her head. "I'm twenty years old. I'm a legal adult. Once the protection detail is lifted I'm going back to school in South City. There'll be nothing here for you."

"Your father asked me to-"

"He had no right to ask." Lyla cut him off. "Just go back east and get on with whatever you're doing there. This hardly has anything to do with you, and the request for transfer will probably be denied. The Major said so, himself." Lyla turned to start walking away from him, but the Colonel caught her arm,

"Your father is the reason I'm in Central in the first place, Lyla." Mustang admitted. Lyla froze.

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

"Last Friday I received a call from your father. He asked me to come to Central immediately for a meeting. He said it was imperative. Said he wouldn't have asked if there was any other way. He wanted me on a train that night, but I told him I couldn't come out here until Tuesday. By Sunday he and the rest of your family were dead."

Lyla pulled her arm out of the Colonel's grasp and took a step back. "What are you saying?"

"I don't know what the meeting was about, but whatever your father was trying to tell me might have gotten your family killed. Lyla, do you have any idea what it was about?"

Lyla didn't look at him. Her eyes glazed over and her face was vacant.

"Lyla?" Mustang asked.

"You do think they were murdered." She spoke numbly. "If they were murdered, and I was there, then why am I still…" she faltered.

"Miss Novikov." The Colonel placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I have to go." She spoke as she shrugged his hand away. "I have to…" and without finishing her statement, Lyla turned and walked away.

Mustang debated going after her, but decided against it. _She needs time._ He reasoned. He doubted she would ever want to look at him knowing he was partly responsible for her family's murder. Mustang walked back towards Reynold's' office just has Hughes exited it with a scowl on his face. "Lyla?" Hughes asked Mustang.

"She left." He replied. Hughes nodded. "Any luck getting a day out of him?"

Hughes sighed in frustration as they walked down the hallway. "No. I'm not surprised though. Records isn't the most organized Department here in Central. I'm amazed they were even able to dig up the will for Novikov to alter it."

"But you're thinking it was recent." It wasn't a question.

"Very recent. Probably just a few days before he died. Whatever Novikov needed to meet with you for, whatever he was working on, it was big. He was onto something. The possibility of him dying was very real. The possibility of his son dying was not, though."

"What do you mean?" Mustang asked.

"Novikov altered his will to place his children in our care, specifically. There was no mention of his wife in the will. Her will was read before Novikov's, and from what I hear, it had been altered recently as well."

"What was in it?" Mustang asked.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but from what little Reynolds told me during our little chat, it was mostly to do with her medical research. Moving it to a new location, handing it off to other coworkers, things like that. Her children weren't mentioned in it though apart from the original draft."

"So they both come in and altered their wills before they died."

"They knew something was coming for them." Hughes decided. "But their son wasn't supposed to be a part of it. They made plans for him. He was supposed to live and be under my guardianship."

"So what went wrong?" Mustang asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out." Hughes stated as he pressed the up button on the elevator. "The coroner's report is on my desk at this very moment. Care to join me?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you about. I trust Hawkeye told you."

"She gave me a hint." Hughes smiled.

"I was also curious about the investigation going on at the house."

"It's a nightmare." Hughes sighed as they entered the elevator.

"In what way?"

"There's nothing there." Hughes revealed. "No sign of a break-in. No fingerprints, not foreign substances. Nothing."

"No signs of alchemy?" Mustang asked. "They could have repaired any damaged locks with alchemy if they were proficient in it."

"I had an alchemic team come in to sweep the place. There were no reported signs of alchemical use anywhere. Not even from Novikov or his son. Neither the Storming Alchemist or his gifted son used alchemy in their dying moments."

"They could have been caught off guard. Didn't have anything to draw a transmutation circle with. Novikov didn't have his gauntlets on when we found him." The Storming Alchemist was notorious for his silver gauntlets inscribed with transmutation circles.

"The gauntlets were in his home office, where you found him, secured in his desk. But there's no sign of a struggle either." Hughes shook his head as they left the elevator and made their way to Hughes' office. "You were there, Roy. They weren't fighting or fleeing. You wrote in your report you found Ronan in the kitchen. From what our team has gathered, he was making a late breakfast. Gale was in the upstairs lounge reading a medical magazine. Novikov was in his office behind his desk."

"And Lyla Novikov was hiding in the closet in her father's office four feet from his body." Mustang spoke. "How did she survive? What did she see?"

"It's unlikely she'll ever remember." Hughes opened the door to his office. "Pressing her for information about what happened that day would probably do more harm than good. Either way, I think you should accept Novikov's request to transfer to Central." Hughes relayed.

"Then that makes two of us." Mustang smiled as he took a seat in front of Hughes' desk. "I doubt the request will actually go through."

"This is Novikov we're talking about, Roy. If Novikov said he made all the necessary arrangements, then you know it'll go through. That man was one of the most intimidating people I've ever known. I'm glad I was on his good side."

"You and me both." Mustang agreed as Hughes grabbed the coroner's report on his desk and opened it up. Mustang tried to wait patiently for him to read through it while watching his expressions carefully. He watched Hughes' eyes move back and forth across the page, then saw them halt on something."

"What is it?" Mustang asked. "Is it what we thought?"

Hughes dropped the folder on the table and reached for the second file. He opened it and skimmed it until his eyes rested on something on that paper as well. His eyes widened.

"Hughes." Mustang tried to get his attention. "What is it?" he watched his friend rip open the third report and skim over it. "Hughes, what's the report? Was it murder or not?"

Hughes slowly sat down in his chair. "See for yourself." His voice was suddenly tired. Mustang rose from his chair and grabbed the first file.

 _Novikov, Kristoff_

Mustang read further down.

 _External Injuries:_

 _None_

 _Internal Injuries:_

 _Internal organs ruptured_

 _Cause of Death:_

 _Simultaneous sudden ruptures to multiple organs._

"What does this mean?" Mustang asked. "Simultaneous sudden ruptures to multiple organs?"

"They all say it." Hughes gestured to the files. "It's not just multiple organs. It's _every vital organ_ , Roy."

Mustang flipped the page to see a list of the ruptured organs, and just like Hughes said, every vital organ was listed: Heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, even the brain.

"They all say this?" he asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

"They weren't just murdered, Roy. They were massacred from the inside-out. A 'rupture' doesn't even cover what happened. These organs didn't just spring a leak. They were crushed."

"But how is something like this even possible?" Mustang asked as he looked over the file. "The rest of the body was reportedly intact. What could do that? It can't be alchemy, can it?"

"And why go for all the vital organs?" Hughes added. "Just doing this to the brain would be enough. Doing this to any of these organs would mean instant death. That's why they're called _vital_ organs."

"And why didn't it happen to Lyla?" Mustang asked.

"I don't know, but she's obviously not capable of this."

Mustang glared at Hughes. "I wasn't suggesting that she-"

"I know. I'm sorry." Hughes sighed. "I have to consider every possibility. I know we've known Lyla since she was a child, but the investigator in me couldn't rule it out with certainty until I saw the report first."

"And this makes it certain for you." Mustang held out the file to him, some anger still left in the words.

"Lyla Novikov was supposed to be studying in South City to become a doctor like her mother. Hearing about you finding her in her family's house hiding in a closet set off some bells."

"According to this, her family dropped dead in front of her! What did you expect her to do?" Mustang tossed the file onto the desk.

Hughes stood from his chair. "Do you know how many cases I deal with that involve family issues getting out of hand and ending with a house full of murder victims? Give me a break, Roy. Would you rather me not consider every possibility? You know Lyla and her father weren't always on the best of terms. That's why she's been all the way in South City the last three years. I told you, I couldn't be certain until we knew. Now we know." He pointed to the files now scattered on his desk.

Mustang's jaw was still set, but he relented and sat down with a sigh. "You're right." He admitted as he rubbed his eyes.

"It's not like it was my top theory, Roy. It was just protocol." Hughes looked at him with sympathy. "Don't think me heartless because of it."

"I don't." Mustang promised. "It's just been a long day."

Hughes took his seat on the other side of the desk again. "Yeah, it has." He agreed, and then he smiled. "I guess you're taking this guardian thing pretty seriously. Already defending your ward."

Mustang lowered his hand from rubbing his eyes. "So what happens now?"

"Now that we can say with certainty this was murder, we can start doing a proper search of the place. We need to start with Novikov: Figure out what he'd been doing for the past few months. Probably going to have to end up tracing it all the way back to his transfer to Central."

"What about Lyla?"

Hughes shrugged. "She'll need to keep the protection detail. We don't know who this person or persons are. She could still be in danger. I don't recommend she go back to South City. If she does it'll just be harder to check in on her and it'll leave more possibility for something to happen to her."

"I should cancel my plans to head back to East City."

"No, you need to keep them." Hughes disagreed. Mustang looked up at him. "Go back to East City. Start packing up your things for the transfer. We don't know how it's going to happen, but Novikov said he had it taken care of. We need to trust him on that."

Mustang sighed. "I should have gotten on a train that night. If I had, maybe none of this would have happened."

"No." Hughes rejected that statement instantly. "You couldn't have known. If you had gotten on that train and had that meeting, you could be just as dead." Hughes leaned forward and placed his forearms on the desk. "It's not your fault, Roy."

"I wonder if Miss Novikov sees it that way."

Hughes raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I told her why I was in Central in the first place." Mustang looked at Hughes. "I told her I came to have a meeting with her father for something important. I told her he asked me to come immediately, and that I made him wait."

"It's not your fault." Hughes repeated. "Lyla's grieving. She'll say and think things that aren't true. If she does blame you now, she won't once the pain passes. She'll see the truth." Mustang tiredly rubbed his eyes again. "When was the last time you slept?" Hughes smiled sympathetically.

"Since the train ride to Central." Mustang admitted. "I'm fine. Just a-"

"A long day?" Hughes finished for him. "Go home, Roy. Get some sleep."

"When was the last time _you_ slept?" Mustang challenged as he stood.

Hughes chuckled. "Not since before Ishval." Hughes closed the coroner's reports and placed them in his desk.

"You had to bring that up?" Mustang rolled his eyes as rubbed his stiff neck.

"I have to notify my investigative team about the report so we can shift gears." Hughes stood as he shuffled papers. "I'll let you know our plan of attack when you come in tomorrow."

"Fine." Mustang said tiredly.

"See you, Roy." Hughes called as Mustang opened the door.

"Tomorrow, then." Mustang replied as he left.

* * *

So there it is! Hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think or what you want to see from this. Thanks for reading!

-Teni


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys! Teni here.

So here's Chapter 5. I know it's been a few days. Sorry about that. It's about to be finals week, so I've been prepping for that.

Hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know if you have any suggestions!

* * *

"Colonel," Hawkeye observed the Colonel shoving files into a lockbox. "The Elric brothers are here."

"I can't deal with them right now." Mustang dismissed. "We have to get the rest of this packed up before tomorrow to make the morning train. Tell them to come back later."

"Yes, Colonel." Hawkeye turned and closed the door behind her. Mustang sighed and rubbed his eyes. He had returned to Central a week and a half ago to begin packing up his office for the apparent move to Central. He still had his doubts about Novikov's statement that everything had been arranged. However, all those doubts were squashed when he saw a manila envelope waiting for him on his desk back in East City. Inside was an official order of transfer to Central Command, effective immediately. He had two weeks to be in Central. The minor cases he had been working on would be taken over by someone else while his more demanding cases would transfer with him to Central. All the proper documents had been signed and approved the day before Novikov's murder and the approval for transfer had been set on his desk the morning he left for Central for his meeting with Novikov. By the time it reached his office he had been at the train station.

There was a loud voice outside his door that pulled Mustang from his thoughts. "What do you mean he can't see us?" an annoying voice reached Mustang's ears. "He told us to come and now that we're here he's sending us away? Forget it. I'm not going to wait on his every beck and call!"

"Brother, don't!" a tinny voice pleaded as the door to Mustang's office opened.

"What's the deal, Mustang?" Edward Elric entered the room with an annoyed expression.

"Ah, Fullmetal." Mustang rolled his eyes. "What a surprise. I distinctly remember ordering Hawkeye to tell you to come back later."

"Yeah, well, it's later." Ed took a seat in the chair across from Mustang as Alphonse Elric closed the door. "So what gives? Spring cleaning?" Ed took in the changes in the room. The file cabinets were empty and there were boxes, both packed and empty, strewn about the room.

"I'm transferring." Mustang went back to emptying his desk and putting its contents into a box. He noticed Ed's face turn from annoyance to surprise. "I thought you heard. I'm transferring to Central."

"We haven't heard anything since you disappeared three weeks ago. What gives? Al and I have been sitting around here with nothing to do."

"I'm sure you utilized your free time doing research." Mustang looked up at the brothers. "Am I wrong?"

Edward sighed as he looked away. Al answered instead. "We tried, but there isn't much in the library here. We've already looked through it all." He shrugged.

"We would have left to look anywhere else," Ed looked at Mustang "but our commanding officer didn't give us _specific orders_ to do so." Ed rolled his eyes. "Major Olson said if we left it would have been chalked up as AWOL and we would be court martialed."

"So Olson had you under his thumb while I was away?" Mustang suspected. "I'm not surprised. He always makes it his purpose to act like he runs things when I'm away."

"He had us on sanitation duty!" Ed bolted up from his slouching position in anger. "That bastard had us cleaning toilets while you were off taking a vacation!"

Mustang smiled at himself without humor. _Wasn't much of a vacation._ He didn't say anything as he opened another drawer in his desk to empty.

"So why are you transferring all of a sudden, Colonel?" Al changed the subject.

Mustang stopped what he was doing and looked at the boys, debating whether or not to tell them. "Do you remember General Novikov? The Storming Alchemist?"

"Yeah, sure." Ed remembered. "Didn't he transfer to Central last year?"

"His wife let us look at her alchemic medical research." Al added.

"Oh yeah." Ed remembered. "It helped a lot when we first started researching the philosopher stone. Right, Al?"

"Mm-hmm." Al agreed. "They were very nice. We wouldn't have had a place to start without them."

"General Novikov was one of the first people we met here outside your team." Ed smiled in remembrance.

"He's dead." Mustang put it bluntly.

The Elric brothers gasped.

"What?" Ed asked breathlessly.

"Oh, no." Al said sadly.

"What happened?" Ed asked desperately.

"He was murdered. Him, his wife, and their son."

"Doctor Novikov too?" Ed stood up from his chair.

"My team and I found them in their home in Central." Mustang explained. "Only their daughter survived." Ed's eyes looked at Mustang with horror. "I left for Central to have a meeting with Novikov, but he and his family had been murdered before I even left. I was only meant to stay there for two days. The reason for my _vacation_ was to attend their funeral." Ed flinched when Mustang quoted the words he had said a few minutes ago.

"Brother…" Alphonse said in despair.

Ed screwed his eyes shut and slammed his fist on the desk. "Dammit!" he cursed.

"What is it?" Mustang questioned. He didn't know the Elric brothers had been so close with the Novikov's.

"A few weeks ago," Al started, "we got a call from Doctor Novikov."

Mustang froze, the papers in his hand dropping onto the desk. "You what?"

"She said she wanted us to come to Central to take a look at some new findings she made in her research. We were going to ask you for permission to go, but-"

"You were already gone!" Ed said through clenched teeth as he pressed his fist into the desk.

"We came today to ask you." Al put his head in his hands.

"When was this?" Mustang demanded. "I need an exact date and time!"

* * *

"Hey, Roy." Hughes' voice sounded on the line. He sounded tired. Mustang told him so. "Yeah, it hasn't been a very restful week," Hughes admitted. "My investigative team's been working practically around the clock.

"Anything new turn up?" Mustang asked.

He heard Hughes sigh. "Not much. We've been scouring the home and Novikov's records, but there hasn't been much to turn up."

"Well I think I have a new bit of information you might be interested in." Mustang smiled knowingly.

"Tell me." Hughes' voice shifted from tired to alert.

"My subordinates, the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother, just informed me they were contacted by Doctor Novikov the day before she died."

There was a pause. "Your subordinates? Why them?"

"Apparently Doctor Novikov had let them see some of her research in the past. She stayed in contact with them while she was in East City, but once the Novikov's left for Central they hadn't heard from her. However, they say she called them the day before she died and asked them to come to Central to view some new findings in her research. They say she was very insistent they come as soon as possible."

"What was the research about?"

Mustang had to be very careful what he said over a military line about the Elric brothers. "Apparently it was some alchemic research on the medicinal uses of alchemy. They used it to springboard off of for their own research."

"I see." Hughes said. "None of my men caught that she had contacted anyone in East City in the phone records."

"Maybe it wasn't her home phone or her office phone." Mustang suggested.

"Maybe." Hughes agreed. "I'll get my people to look into it."

"How's Miss Novikov?" Mustang asked. He heard Hughes sigh. "What is it?"

"She's…not doing too well, Roy." Hughes was reluctant to say.

"Tell me." Mustang demanded.

"She…well…she just won't…do anything."

Mustang blinked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"She just stays in the barracks all day. She doesn't even leave the room. The men on the protection detail tell me she hasn't eaten in three days. She hasn't been going to her grief counselor either. She's missed three meetings. Every time they tell her it's time to leave for the appointment she dismisses them."

Mustang sighed in frustration. "And what have you done about it?"

"What do you mean, Roy? The girl just lost her entire family. She's grieving."

"No, she's not. That's the problem."

"I've tried talking to her. We've had conversations. Fairly normal ones, actually. You almost can't tell she just lost her family. She certainly doesn't act like it."

"She's in denial." Mustang shook his head. "She may seem fine, but it's not good for her."

"No need to tell me. She's gotten paler in the last few days. If she doesn't pull out of this soon she's going to need to be hospitalized again."

"I'll contact her doctor. He recommended she see a psychiatrist if she was having a hard time."

Hughes sighed. "I don't know if she'll like that. Odds are, she won't go to those appointments either."

"She doesn't have a choice." Mustang said flatly. "If she hasn't seen the grief counselor or the psychiatrist by the time I get back to Central, I swear, I'll drag her there myself."

"Easy, Roy." Hughes said nervously over the phone. "This isn't exactly easy for her."

"Maybe not, but doing this to herself will only make it that much harder."

"I'll see what I can do here before you come back. Maybe I can convince her to go to an appointment or eat _something._ "

"I should be back there in three days. Just keep an eye on her until then."

"Will do." Hughes promised. "See you soon, Roy."

Mustang hung up the phone and turned to the Elric brothers who were still standing there. They looked confused at the conversation Mustang had been having with Hughes.

"Colonel?" Edward asked. "Who was that you were talking about?"

"Novikov's daughter." Mustang answered. "She was the only survivor of the murders and Novikov left me in charge of her in his will."

Edward blink. "Oh."

"How old is she?" Alphonse asked.

"She's older than you two. Twenty."

"Novikov asked you to look after his grown up daughter? But she's already an adult."

"I've known the Novikov's since their daughter, Lyla, was only a child. Novikov was my superior officer when I first became a State Alchemist. Maes Hughes in Central knew them well too. He's the one handling their case. The three of us agreed back in Ishval, should any one of us perish, the other two would look after their family. Novikov's daughter may be grown up, but the promise still stands. That's what it means to be comrades. Not just in arms, but in promise."

Ed looked down at the ground thinking hard about Mustang's words. Alphonse was in deep thought as well. "So," Mustang changed the subject. "I suggest you two start packing up your things. We leave for Central the day after tomorrow."

"What?" Edward looked up.

"We're transferring with you to Central?" Al asked.

"Of course you are. You're my subordinates. How am I supposed to give you new missions if you're still in East City? Besides, there are many fine libraries in Central you can scour for your research into the philosopher stone. Unless you'd rather stay under Major Olson's command?" Mustang raised an eyebrow at them.

"No way!" Ed shouted. "There's no way I'm scrubbing another toilet for that bastard!"

"There's dozens of libraries in Central." Alphonse agreed, "and plenty of Alchemists we can meet. Maybe they'll be open to letting us take a peek into their research."

"Alright!" Ed smiled confidently.

"Hold on a minute." Mustang raised his hand to quiet them. "This isn't some field trip. You'll still be under my command, which means Central Command will only be where you report to. I'll still be sending you out on mission all over Amestris, so don't get too comfortable once we get there."

Edward scowled. "Yeah, we know. You never let us forget it."

"We'll only utilize the libraries in between missions." Alphonse promised for the two of them.

"Good. Now go pack." Mustang ordered. "The sooner we get to Central, the better."

* * *

Well, that's chapter 5! Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if you have suggestions or anything. Thanks for reading!

-Teni


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